“It seems like maybe you actually have done humanity a great service,” says Captain Reyes to me. Aside from us, only Bobby and Dalib are here, in his command information center. It’s connected to the bridge by a hallway, but it’s much deeper in the ship to stay protected. It’s like a combat mission control with three stacked tactical surfaces against the wall across from the entrance - one that’s showing our location in space, one that shows the ship’s condition, and one blank screen that I presume is populated during combat. The acoustics seem like they’ve been created for clarity or maybe there’s some kind of internal speaker system; every sound is crisp.

  “Thank you, sir,” I acknowledge. I’m not sure it actually was any kind of complement and I can see his lips press together, but I’ve already decided this is how I want to play it with anyone that finds out about what I did or why I did it: I was called upon, I answered the call, and I did a good thing for Auntie V. To his credit, Bobby the betrayer has told Reyes he is now completely certain I’m not infected, but I’m not in a forgiving mood.

  “You’ve got a day, no more, before the Birchcombe is repaired enough to get us to the colony. You should know it’s one of the most Mana saturated places in the Galaxy, and sometimes Powers do weird things there. I have one more test for you that needs to happen as soon as we arrive, so you’ll be here with me for the hyperspace jump.”

  “Understood, sir,” I reply smartly. It’s not an ideal situation, but I don’t think I have any choice.

  “Dismissed.”

  We all exit the command centre. Bobby heads off straightaway without saying anything or a backward glance.

  “See you in an hour in my quarters,” says Dalib, and also leaves. I take a deep breath and rub my face, but I don’t spiral any more than that. I’ve got no doubt someone is watching me even now and waiting for me to let my guard down and reveal I actually am infected. I shove all my feelings down and get on with it. One day I’ll sit down and try to process everything, but not today.

  The few people I pass give me a wide berth and I’m not surprised with the way I look and smell right now. When I get to our shared quarters, Mark and Paul aren’t there which I’m actually grateful for. It will be good to see them, but right now I need a shower and a change of clothes. I grab a fresh jumpsuit and exit our room to the communal showers, then strip off and put what remains of my old jumpsuit in the incinerator. I spend a good ten minutes under the hot water rinsing the grime down the drain along with some of the emotions. Despite everything, the fact it’s only Captain Reyes left to convince has me feeling positive. Getting past all of this seems possible, even though I’m not naive enough to think nobody else will need convincing later. Hopefully when my Power is a lot stronger. I can’t help but feel amazed at my hardened, strengthened physique and what it’s allowed me to do, and live through.

  As I get dressed I open my notifications and skim through most of them to settle on the last one.

  Soul Spark reservoir: 143

  Would you like to allocate your Soul Sparks?

  (Y/N)

  It doesn’t seem like many Soul Sparks for all the shit I went through, but I know I missed some when Brad and Kate were out of range and the Grivoni weren’t super high Level; most of their combat effectiveness came from their resilience and how effective their Power is within environments like that. It’s not a surprise they raid space stations - surrounded by metal in close quarters.

  Even though I think it should be more than 143, other than Constitution if I add all those Soul Sparks to an Attribute it will be substantially higher than now. An extra seven people’s equivalent Strength or Agility or Perception. I eye Aura at 239 and Mana at 200 and wonder if my significant preference for physical Attributes will hold me back in the long run.

  I decide to wait until I’ve seen Dalib to make the final decision.

  When I get to the small mess hall, I’m glad to see Mark and Paul are both there… maybe that’s my boosted Luck working. They’re at one of the four long tables with benches and there’s enough space for me to slip in between them and the group of Birchcombe crew beside them, if I’m a bit rude. I grab some food and decide I’m entitled to a bit of rudeness.

  “Mind sliding along?” I ask.

  “Calrik!” say Paul and Mark at practically the same time, and both stand up to greet me. The group beside us relents and moves down so I sit next to Paul, across from Mark and plop my tray down.

  “When did you get back?” Paul asks. “The Birchcombe has been out of combat for over an hour.”

  “Less than half hour ago,” I say, and pop some meatloaf into my mouth. Guilt is pressing at me so I stall a bit.

  “And… Talos? How did it go?” asks Mark. And… there it is. Even though it’s not really my fault I still feel a bit bad for not coming back with Mark’s hard work.

  “It didn’t last long,” I admit. “The Grivoni have magnetic Powers and the Suit wasn’t strong enough to hold them off.”

  I expect Mark to look disappointed, but he just looks thoughtful and nods, already planning a new version in his head.

  “Did anything work?” he asks.

  “I liked the feel of it and some of the weaponry. The self-destruct worked great too when I got into too much shit.”

  Both of them look at me with raised eyebrows. I guess since I’m sitting here with no visible injuries they assumed I’d had an easy time of it despite losing the armor. I give them a rundown of what happened on the space station without including the shit with Bobby and hear about the battle that took place in space nearby us. Apparently a few members of the Birchcombe have very strong Powers for space combat and Mark made himself very useful, but Paul as expected was pretty much useless other than manning a blaster emplacement and picking off small Grivoni craft.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I keep an eye on the time and when it’s time to meet Dalib I let them know I need to leave and Mark also needs to go to help with ship repairs.

  “I’m looking forward to being able to pitch in once we get to the colony,” Paul says as we put our trays in the slots provided.

  “Careful what you wish for,” says Mark, and I have to agree even though I’ve decided to go down to the planet myself.

  I make my way to Dalib’s quarters and look straight at the panel beside the door while selecting ‘entry’ below it. The border of the panel goes yellow and I wait for a few seconds. The door slides open and I step into the room. It’s smaller than the one I share with Mark and Paul, but Dalib’s the only one here because he’s earned privacy, rather than luxury. The lighting is low amber and one wall is taken up with a small version of the screens in the command room. Other than that it’s the same clean lines as mine, despite the hodge podge composition of the Birchcombe.

  “Come on in,” Dalib says. I step into the room and the door slides shut behind me. Dalib is sitting on a chair in a spot I couldn’t see from the doorway, flicking through a screen that looks like it comes from a ‘Top Secret’ mission briefing. I saw my parents with more than a few of them growing up and managed to put two and two together a long time ago to figure out what they are. Dalib doesn’t seem concerned that I could read the contents of the screen if I wanted to, especially with my enhanced Perception, and continues to flick through it. I stand and wait for a few heartbeats before he’s finished with whatever he’s doing and closes it.

  “So… you’ve got an interesting favour in mind?” I nod and he gestures for me to sit down. There’s nowhere to do it other than the bed and that feels wrong, so I stay standing.

  “I’d like to try to sense what you’re doing when you use your Power.”

  “Cellular Manipulation? I’ve used it over time to rebuild myself completely. Kaltor helped me design the plan to maximize its potential.”

  “No - Dimensional Rift.”

  “It’s only a Minor Power.”

  “I know - but that doesn’t stop you from using it in ways I’d never imagined.”

  “Ok.”

  “Ok?” I ask. I didn’t expect it to be that easy.

  “I don’t think it’s going to matter, but it doesn’t cost me anything other than time. Unless… you’re going to try to steal it?” Dalib raises an eyebrow, believing it’s impossible. I’m not so sure it is, although I have no evidence I can steal a Power from anyone who isn’t a close relative.

  “No. I want to see if I can figure out what you’re doing. So I can replicate it.”

  “Replicate it? Your Power lets you replicate Powers? I’ve never heard of that… no wonder there’s a lot of interest in you.”

  “No - not exactly. I’ve just got a lot of flexibility in how I can use my Mana.” I pause, wondering what I should tell Dalib, but I’ve already decided I’m all in, just in case. What I think I’ve figured out is that people use their Mana pools to use their Powers and, in special cases, overclock them. In my case, it seems like I can manipulate it however I want to and that’s why I was told to find someone with a Mana Manipulation Power.

  Dalib shrugs. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Can you just… pull something out and put it back over and over? Is there a limit to how often you can do it?”

  “I’ve never tested the limits of it. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Dalib pulls a dagger out of nowhere into his hand and then makes it disappear again, then does it a second time, and a third. I billow my Mana out and pour all my Perception into feeling what’s happening, trying to figure it out. In a way I can sense what’s happening, but in other ways it’s totally alien to anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s like a seam in reality is opened up by his Mana and he’s able to pass things back and forth between where we are and… somewhere else.

  I half expect Dalib to stop after an hour of doing this constantly, other than questions I ask him while my Mana is regenerating, but he knows training takes time and I think I’m causing him to consider his Power deeply. What do his senses detect when his Power activates? Does he visualize what he wants beforehand, or is it instinctive? Does the effort and Mana needed to use his Power scale linearly with the size of the object? Is there a limit to what he can store? How does he know what’s stored there? How does he ensure the object appears where he wants it to?

  He’s put thousands of hours into perfecting how he uses his Power and the fine grain control of it he has is impressive. Even in the closed confines of his quarters he can perform combat forms and use his Power to manifest a weapon right where he needs it and return it to his Dimensional Rift before he gets into an awkward position. It means he can do things in combat that normal physics and body positions would never allow you to do. I’m fascinated, but right now I’m more interested in replicating his inventory function than being able to use it like he does in combat.

  After three hours of constant, intense investigating, I feel something is at the edge of my awareness, but I can’t quite grasp it. When I flood my Mana into the area Dalib’s using to make things appear and disappear, I can’t quite get a clear enough view of the patterns that form, and I don’t have enough skill or Mana to try to replicate those patterns effectively. I feel my ability to use my Mana however I choose can be a huge advantage, but the downside is there are no recipes or established channels for me to use to create effects.

  I want this badly enough and this situation is unique enough, having access to Dalib, that I decide to allocate 50 Soul Sparks to Mana to see if it makes a difference. Immediately my ability to detect the patterns Dalib is unconsciously using to activate his Power are clearer, but it’s not enough for me to replicate it. Adding the extra Soul Sparks to Mana is like getting new glasses that are better, but still not strong enough to see as far as I need to. He’s interested in my progress, but time is not my friend for this. After we leave the colony Dalib will go back to the Horizon and this chance will be gone. Slightly hesitant due to the opportunity cost of putting Soul Sparks into my physical Attributes that I know will help me in combat, I decide to put another 50 Soul Sparks into Mana. As I do, I feel the flood of warmth through me and the expansion of my Mana pool and awareness once again. This time, it’s also accompanied by a notification.

  Minor Power replication potential triggered

  Threshold surpassed for Level, Perception, Mana, and Aura.

  With concentrated study or the focused application of knowledge or insight, the Soul Spark Reclaimer can replicate the effects of Minor Powers by channeling Mana patterns.

  Replication potential for Major Powers is possible at higher thresholds.

  I stare at the notification, excitement building. I hadn’t specifically realized it before, but I’ve only really been able to replicate weak Spark-like Power effects I’ve seen. This opens up a whole new world of possibility for me, and I’m beginning to see what makes my Power a Mythic one.

  “You ok?” Dalib asks. He’s obviously sensed my change in energy and mood.

  “Better than ok!” I exclaim. “I think I’ve made a breakthrough.”

  “I’ve got another hour before I need to report for mission planning and this session is done. If you can’t get what you need by then, it’s unlikely you’ll have another shot at it.”

  I split the last 43 Soul Sparks I have to allocate, putting 11 in Aura to bring it up to 250 and the last 32 evenly between Agility and Perception.

  Completely focused, I get to work.